


Of Love and Terror

by Kiki9627



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic, F/M, Family, Fluff, M/M, Terrorism, Titans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-08-23 09:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8322286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiki9627/pseuds/Kiki9627
Summary: Levi, Captain of the Police Department, and Eren, famous horror novelist, are just trying to live their lives with their son Asher yet a terrorist group calling themselves "The Titans" are causing the two men and all of humanity havoc.





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I'm trash.
> 
> So instead of focusing on my one Skyrim fanfic, I wanted to start some fluffy domestic cuteness featuring our favorite love birds. I'm following a 100 writing prompts thing I found on Pinterest (http://pin.it/aKrkrRg) (if you know how to add in hyperlinks, please tell me! I'm so lost on this site)
> 
> There are 6 that say "roll again/roller's pick" and I omitted those and I'm actually using these prompts as a story line so I'm not doing it at as randomly. 
> 
> I normally write in 1st person but I didn't know how I could actually pull such a thing off with this so enjoy my lousy 3rd person narration!
> 
> Please comment and leave criticism (constructive is preferred)!

            Tiny feet padded across a hard wood floor, wide eyes taking in as much light as they could.

            “Pѐre?” the tiny voice called into the seemingly endless darkness, “Pѐre, are you in there?”

            “What is it, baby?” a gruff voice called back, encouraging the tiny feet to make their way to the large bed in the center of the room.

            “I had a bad dream,” the small voice shook, clinging to the blanket once hands found it.

            “Come here then,” the man softly commanded, wrapping large hands on the small body’s sides, raising the child into the bed.

            Immediately, the miniscule body curled in between the two much larger figures, snuggling as close as possible.

            “Daddy and I will keep you safe,” the man hummed, wrapping his arms around the other two, “No matter what.”

***

            Bright green eyes blinked as Eren woke up to little feet jabbing his side.

            Upon seeing Levi wrapped around their son, Asher, his sensed quickly clicked into place, leaving a blissful smile across his face.

            Eren couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped his lips upon seeing how the young boy had his short arms wrapped around his pѐre’s head, keeping him in place as they slept. Yet his little legs stuck out in whatever direction they could, placing the child diagonally across the bed.

            After placing two soft kisses on the foreheads of the still sleeping figures, Eren rose to begin his day.

            Within half an hour, the smell of pancakes wafted through the air and tiny foot steps could be heard down the hall.

            “Good morning baby,” Eren greeting, watching his son yawn loudly, flashing bright, sharp teeth.

            “G’ morning daddy,” he sighed as he came over to cling to Eren’s leg as a hug.

            “Is pѐre up yet?” he questioned, flipping the pancake with ease.

            “Mmhm,” the boy rubbed his forehead against the man’s leg as he nodded, causing unruly black hair to stick out in all directions.

            “Are you excited for tomorrow?” Eren sing-songed quietly.

            Instantaneously, the boy was alert, bright green eyes shining at the question. He couldn’t help but jump in his excitement.

            “Yes!” he cheered, “We’re going to have cake! And Aunt Petra will be coming over! And Hange!”

            “Aren’t you excited about everybody else?” Eren chuckled, sliding the fluffy pancake onto a plate before adding more batter to the pan.

            “Of course I am but pѐre says that Aunt Petra is going to have a baby,” the boy explained, brows creasing in the middle to explain his prioritizing, “I want to ask her if I can hold it when it gets home.”

            “Ah, I see,” Eren smiled, nodding at his son’s explanation.

            “Speaking of babies,” Levi interrupted as he walked into the kitchen, rubbing his hair dry, “I can’t believe ours will be five.”

            “I’m not a baby pѐre!” the boy growled with no real bite in his words.

            “Sure you aren’t,” Levi huffed with a smirk, leaning one hip into the counter, laying the towel on his shoulders. Looking up from the child, Levi leaned over Asher to peck a kiss on his husband’s lips, “Good morning by the way.”

            “Good morning to you too,” he smiled, sliding the last pancake onto the plate, “Alright, breakfast is ready!”

***

            “I felt her kick!” Asher gasped, both tiny hands splayed across Petra’s baby belly.

            “I felt it too!” she cheered with the boy, giggling when she caught Levi smiling at the scene.

            From the other side of the room, Levi chatted with his employees and close friends, having known each of them for years.

            “You two still haven’t picked out names?” Levi questioned, one thin brow raised at Oluo.

            “It’s not as easy as you make it out to be,” the younger groaned, copying his boss’s poster, crossing his arms and straightening his back.

            “She says she wants the name to be special,” Gunther added to Oluo’s reasoning, trying to defend the man.

            Oluo and Petra had married about two years ago, now nearly 5 months along with their first child. Levi wished that he and Eren could have started a family so quickly, just having the means to create a life themselves. Instead, they had to go through the paper work and heart ache of the adoption system, fight for custody when the segregate mother started having second thoughts, fighting tooth and nail just to hold their baby boy.

            “Pѐre!” the boy called, “Have you felt the baby kick yet?”

            “No I haven’t,” he chuckled at his son’s excitement, “Do you mind, Petra?”

            “Of course not,” she lightly clapped him on the shoulder before taking his hand and placing it against herself, where the majority of the motion was happening.

            “It’s amazing,” Levi sighed breathlessly as a tiny push met his widespread hand, “To think you and Oluo created this little life. I’m happy for the two of you.”

            “Thank you,” Petra smiled brightly, “Now when are we letting this sweetheart open his presents?”

            “I think Eren’s finishing the detailing on the cake,” he explained, taking his hand back, “After he’s done, we’ll open presents and then have cake. Do you know where shi-mm.”

            He had to catch himself before he cursed in front of Asher, Eren would give him more than an earful later if the little boy started cursing because of him.

            “Where Hange is?” he quickly corrected himself.

            Eld snorted from the other side of the room, catching the lapse in judgement from his boss. Daggers were glared his way when the sound wasn’t missed by Levi.

            “I think they said they’re running late,” Petra explained, “Something about a student spilling chemicals on the lab floor.”

            Hange taught at the high school on weekdays and then at the county college on Saturday. How they managed to not drown in paperwork baffled all of their friends but Petra assumed it was thanks to Mike that everything was graded on time for the students.

            “They should be here anytime now,” Eld offered when he noticed Asher becoming disheartened by the idea of his favorite play mate not making it to his birthday party, “In fact, I’ll call them now to see where they are.”

            Levi sent a silent thank-you nod in the man’s direction, catching how the boy’s mood swung back to a hopeful ray.

            Just as Eld had left the room, frantic knocking pounded on the front door.

            “Come in!” Levi shouted, guessing it was Hange or Eren’s family, “It’s unlocked!”

            The door swung open to reveal a short blond coconut and a frantic raven-haired girl, gasping and apologizing franticly for being late, aiming most of their apologizes to the little boy.

            “We didn’t mean to be late,” Armin explained, making his way to the couch after shoving his shoes off, “Traffic was horrible!”

            “It’s okay,” Asher giggled at the way Mikasa over dramatically bowed on the floor in front of him, “You’re here now. You can make it up with playing with me! Daddy and pѐre are tired of playing Chutes and Ladders with me.”

            Mikasa gasped at the accusation, “How could anyone grow board of such a fun game?”

            “That’s what I said!” the boy exclaimed, buying into her shock, be it fake or not.

***

            It wasn’t until Petra and Oluo were the only guest left, still chatting with Levi and Eren, that Hange finally made an appearance.

            “Did I miss everything?” they pouted, coming into the house without even knocking, “Sometimes I think traffic happens just to make me late. There wasn’t even an accident! It was just because people don’t know how to let people onto the highway without causing a whole jam!”

            “Hange!” Asher cheered, jumping from the couch to run into Hange’s arms, “You made it! I thought you weren’t going to come at all!”

            Hange lifted the little boy up, spinning around until they were both dizzy.

            The rest of the evening was spent playing Dance Dance Revolution and singing Karaoke. Eventually, Levi had to practically push Hange out of his house, promising to invite them over again some time.

***

            “Do you think Petra’s baby will make him ask questions?” Eren wondered, wrapped around his husband as they tried to fall asleep.

            “What kind of questions, brat?” Levi grumbled.

            “You know what kind,” he huffed, sitting up enough to stare at those silvery-blue eyes, “What if he finds out about her? What if he wants to meet her?”

            “Then we see if she’d be willing to meet him,” Levi huffed, trying not to get worked up himself, they didn’t need both of them to be a mess for no reason, “Why are you so worried? He’s our baby.”

            “He’s _your_ baby,” Eren sighed heavily, turning over before lying back down, “I’m just worried when he starts school, the other children might bully him. He might grow to hate us. I just don’t want him to feel betrayed.”

            “He’s going to realize that the two of us couldn’t possibly have a baby ourselves,” Levi began, treading carefully to keep the other man calm, “All we can do is make sure he understands that we _both_ love him. We wanted him in _our_ lives so we made it happen. Besides, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. That boy adores you.”


	2. Chapter 2 Prompt 74

Number 74: Given An Offer You Can’t Refuse

 

            On any normal day, Levi and his son got along just fine. They would read, bake, and have tea, anything that would allow them to spend time together. But today was cleaning day. A day which made Levi public enemy number 1 to his son and vice versa.

            Getting the boy to keep his room picked up was a battle of its own but to get him to really clean, to wipe the windows and sweep the floor, it was more of all-out war fare.

            “Asher!” Levi called angrily, “If you’re still sitting in the floor pouting when I get in there, you’ll be in big trouble! I mean it young man!”

            The little boy stuck his noise up in the air and huffed, even though his pѐre couldn’t see him.

            “I don’t want to!” he called back, “My toys are exactly where they need to be! If Batman moves from his post, the Joker will get out of jail and rob a bank!”

            “Oh my god,” Levi huffed to himself, “Eren!”

            Levi stomped into the bathroom where he found his husband scrubbing at the tub walls, removing any blemishes.

            “Your son is being a bigger brat than even you,” Levi ranted, “He won’t listen to me!”

            “Why is it that when he’s being bad,” Eren sighed with a small laugh, “He’s my son and not ours? I know how you feel about cleanliness but I still don’t think it’s worth the separation between you two. I really don’t get why you two only fight on cleaning day.”

            “Well maybe if you helped me with disciplining him,” Levi growled, trying to keep his composure while thinking of the dust and dirt collected in his son’s room, “He wouldn’t fight me every inch of the way.”

            “I’ll talk to him,” Eren laughed, leaving his sponge in the tub and stretching his back as he stood.

            The boy was grumpily pushing a toy car back and forth, looking completely heart broken by the idea of moving his games with his action figures.

            “Hey baby?” Eren called gently, stepping into the messy room.

            “What?” the boy tried not to snap at his innocent daddy.

            “Will you please help me and your pѐre?” he asked as he crouched down beside the child.

            “No!” the boy bawled, “You and pѐre don’t understand! If I move Batman, Joker will run around the house and destroy everything!”

            The man looked over to where the boy pointed. The Joker toy was trapped under an overturned laundry basket with Batman sitting on top, placed on the edge so he could keep a careful watch over the villain.

            _So that’s where Levi’s favorite laundry basket disappeared to_ , Eren thought to himself.

            “What if we put Joker into a tuppa ware bowl?” Eren offered, “We could put the lid on and then he won’t be able to escape.”

            “But there aren’t any holes for him to get air,” the boy shook his head, strands of hair flying around his chubby face, “He won’t be able to breath! He could die and Batman refuses to kill! If we killed Joker, Batman might think we’re bad guys too!”

            While Eren tried to think of another idea, loud footsteps stomped across the floor, an infuriated Levi stopping in the doorway to take in the disaster.

            “Asher!” he nearly shrieked, “Look at this mess!”

            Cloths were piled in a corner, half drank glasses of water took up most of the bedside table, toys were strewn across the floor.

            “Levi,” Eren huffed, “It’s really not that bad.”

            The pile Levi was seeing was truly only a shirt that the boy had yanked off in the middle of the night when it got too hot, there were two glasses of water but one of them was Eren’s while the other was from this morning, though the toys really were as bad as they seemed. It was as if the boy had taken out every toy he could find, just to vex his pѐre.

            “Like hell it isn’t!” Levi snapped, “And is that my laundry basket? I’ve been looking for that damn thing for over a week now!”

            “Levi!” Eren gasped, “Watch your language!”

            But Levi ignored him, reaching for the basket as he fumed.

            “Wait! Pѐre! No!” Asher cried, bolting up to defend Joker’s cage, “You can’t let Joker out!”

            “Levi, please,” Eren whispered, pulling on his husband’s sleeve, “Can we talk for a second?”

            Levi growled to himself as he followed Eren out into the hallway.

            “What, shitty brat?” he snapped, folding his arms and tapping his foot.

            Taking a deep breath, Eren had to close his eyes for a moment to regain control on his anger, having learned he had to in his teenage years.

            “Please,” he breathed out, finally opening his eyes to keep contact with the older man, “Control your language. I don’t want Asher picking up that bad habit.”

            They both stood there, breathing for a second. They both needed to have level heads if they were going to be able to negotiate with their small child.

            “He’s afraid the Joker will make a mess of things if Batman isn’t keeping him captive,” Eren tried to explain, “Maybe we can get him to move the doll for the moment until we can find a better solution.”

            Levi resumed his foot tapping, starting to switch it to pacing. Of course a child raised by Eren would have a crazy imagination. How was he supposed to get the child to cooperate when he didn’t even understand where the boy was coming from?

            “I have an idea,” Levi announcing, turning on his heels and returning to the child’s room.

            Eren was right on his tail, making sure his husband didn’t make matters worse.

            “Okay, Asher,” Levi sighed, “What if we handcuffed Joker to the lamp? Can Batman watch over him there?”

            “Can you do that?” the little boy’s eyes grew twice their size, starring in wonder at Levi.

            “Yes I can,” the man nodded, “So do we have a deal? Will that work for you?”

            “But what about all the other bad guys?” the boy groaned, keeping one villain out of trouble wouldn’t keep all the others out.

            “Right,” the man sighed, bowing his head and massaging his temple, “How about we put all of the bad guys into the laundry basket? We can move it to the corner and the good guys and take turns watching over them. How does that sound?”

            “I can keep the laundry basket?” the boy smiled.

            “For now,” he nodded, internally groaning at the loss, “Until your daddy and I can find your own.”

            “That sounds fair,” the boy cheered, standing up to gather all the villains to sit them beside the Joker in his cell, “Now the other heroes can get some rest! Thank you pѐre!”

            “Your welcome baby,” Levi couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face, taking in his son’s beautiful eyes, “Now if we finish all our cleaning, tomorrow we’ll go to the store and get you a basket for yourself.”

            “Yes sir!” the boy stood straight and nodded before getting to work on put up all his toys and cleaning the rest of the space.

            “I swear,” Levi huffed as he leaned against his son’s doorframe, “He gets to be more stubborn like you every day.”

            “Is that really so bad?” Eren asked innocently, batting his eyes with a mischievous smile.

            “I suppose not,” he drawled.


	3. Chapter 3 Prompt 16

Number 16: World/City Wide Black Out

“Daddy!” the normally small voice screamed through the darkness.

The storm hadn’t gotten bad enough to scare the boy but when it knocked out the power, the child was quickly terrified.

“I’m coming baby!” Eren called, trying to make his way through the dark house from the floor above. He nearly tripped on the steps but had luckily thought ahead to grab onto the railing, only slipping a bit and landing on his rear, sliding down a step or two.

“Daddy? Was that you?” the child questioned the loud crash.

“Yes, that was me,” Eren groaned, regaining his footing and making his way down the rest of the steps.

Where did he leave that flashlight? Levi would know. Unfortunately, the other man was at work, taking an evening shift when no one else could. Even though he was Captain of the county in the Police Department and could have others fill in the needed time, he was more than willing to make an extra appearance.

Eren tried to make his way into the living room and to his son’s side without falling over the couch or coffee table. He quickly learned that the boy himself was an obstacle to avoid in the dark when he collided with the child, knocking Asher off his feet.

“Daddy!” the boy whined.

“Sorry!” Eren apologized quickly, “I’m sorry! I couldn’t see you there!”

“It okay,” Asher sniffled as he searched for his daddy’s hand.

“Let’s see if we can find a flashlight,” Eren offered, leading his son behind him as he searched in the dark with his free hand and careful toes.

“I think pѐre left one in the kitchen,” Asher offered, wanting to be out of the dark as fast as possible.

After finding the dining room table, the two cautiously treaded to the right, looking out for the kitchen island. Once they found the marble topping, they clung to its side, not looking forward to venturing into the empty space between it and the cabinets.

Thankfully, after years of living with Levi, he knew that each drawer had a purpose and would be organized to perfection, leaving only the two bottom drawers as options to find a flashlight in.

Digging into the darkness, Eren’s hand swept over a variety of kitchen utensils, hoping a stray knife hadn’t found itself in the shelf.

“Found it!” he cheered upon recognizing the grooves and carvings of their flashlight. Hope quickly vanished though when the switch did nothing.

“What’s wrong daddy?” the little boy begged for an answer as to why they were still surrounded by complete gloom.

“Well,” the man sighed, “One of three things. One, the batteries are dead. Two, the light is dead. Three, the flashlight is dead. We may have batteries somewhere but this thing is pretty old. We may have to find matches and some candles.”

“Candles could be fun,” Eren could tell Asher was smiling, even in their dreary situation.

“Then let’s do that,” Eren cheered, leading them back across the dining room into his and Levi’s room.

After plenty of late nights with the baby, Eren knew his room in the dark well enough to be able to navigate the two of them to the master bathroom. But as luck would have it, Eren had left his gym bag right at the bathroom entrance, tripping him with just enough time to let go of his son’s hand.

“Son of a-!” he nearly cursed, shoving himself off the floor and kicking the bag, “Why would I do that?”

“Are you okay daddy?” Asher asked quietly, it wasn’t often his daddy got angry in front of him.

“Yes, baby,” the man sighed, finding his son’s hand again, “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have lost my temper. Let’s find those matches.”

Finding the double sink was easy enough but Levi left Eren’s drawers to Eren, and the matches were Eren’s when he wanted to romance Levi. 

“Where did I leave those matches?” he questioned, digging though the soaps and razors, “I know I still have some. Ouch!”

Mysteriously a new razor had lost its head cap, leaving the blades ready to slice open an unsuspecting finger.

“And now I’ll need to find the Band-Aids too,” the man grumbled, taking the razor, and any others he found, out of the drawer to prevent future accidents.

“Daddy,” the boy called, tugging on the man’s hand, “Maybe we should just sit on the couch and wait for pѐre to get home. He keeps a flashlight on him. He’ll be able to fix the lights when he comes home.”

Heaving a deep sigh, Eren nodded to himself, knowing his son couldn’t see his submission.

“I suppose you’re right,” he hummed, “Don’t need to keep on with this until we’re both hurt.”

Slowly making his way out of the bedroom, Eren spent extra time, trying to map out his living room in his mind, definitely not wanting to knock into the glass end table. Or catch his toes on the rug that filled the floor. Or end up face first into the seat of his own recliner. But it would seem that fate was out to get him. The boy slipped his hand out of Eren’s as soon as they made it to the living room, fearing all these things would come to pass, as they did.

“I’m just going to sit here in the floor until your pѐre comes home,” Eren pouted, pulling his knees his chest, feeling defeated by his own home.

When he was finally comfortable on the rug, his phone began to go off. From the upstairs loft. Playing Levi’s ringtone.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he shouted into the floor, pushing himself up and crawling to the stairs, “I’ll call him back when I get to the phone but I have to get there first.”

“Be careful daddy,” Asher called from his perch on the end of the couch.

Once the man made it up the stairs, the phone had stopped ringing, making Eren quickly realize he had no idea where the thing was laying.

“Please call again,” he begged quietly to himself as he crawled his way to the center of the loft, careful not to bump his head on this coffee table, “Please call again!”

It would seem that fate was tired of its game, allowing Eren the pleasure of hearing his husband’s ringtone again. He bolted to the device, plucking it up and hitting the answer button before Levi could become too worried.

“Levi!” Eren cheered into the speaker, “Is everything going well?”

“Not really,” the man sighed on the other end of the line, “Due to the power outage, we have to respond to a lot of calls. I may not be home for a few more hours. How are you and Asher holding up?”

“Oh, Asher’s good,” he chuckled, feeling the sting on his finger tip, “I on the other hand, have found I can be quite the klutz. Don’t worry though! We’re both fine!”

“If you say so,” Levi hummed skeptically, “Just don’t burn the house down while I’m gone.”

“Please don’t say that,” he groaned, truly fearing he would find a way to if he promised he wouldn’t.

***

It was about 3 hours later when Levi made his way into his home, ten minutes later when the lights came back on.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Eren threw his hands up, storming into the bedroom.

Levi and Asher could only stand in the living room, watching as the man ranted and raved.

“Daddy’s been having a rough day,” Asher explained.

“I can see that,” Levi smirked, rubbing the top of his son’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically I'm a klutz and sometimes I like to take it out on innocent characters. You know how Eren ran into like everything possible? Multiply it by three, and that's me. Every. Single. Day.
> 
> So I hope you enjoyed his clumsy-ness as much as I did!


	4. Chapter 4 Prompt 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update! My internet and laptop were having a disagreement and I had to get my brother to help me fix it! But all's well again!
> 
> Thank you for reading, comments, and kudos!

Number 50: Back to School

“Okay,” Eren huffed, practically running from room to room, “He has scissors, paper, folders, crayons, pencils, napkins.”

As Eren paced, he read off the school’s supply list, mentally checking off everything he had just put into his son’s backpack. He stopped his movement just long enough to stare into the bag and check everything else off.

“Highlighters,” he murmured, “Where are your highlighters?”

Asher watched his daddy’s frantic movements like a hawk from the dining room table. His pѐre had tried to keep the man calm but the closer the time came, the more hysterical the man became.

“Levi!” he shouted, “Where did we put the highlighters?”

“They should be in the bag on the kitchen counter,” Levi called back from their bedroom.

Eren sighed in relief once he saw the bag and began scrounging through it.

“Thank you!”

“Daddy?” Asher called in a soft tone, “Should I be worried?”

The little boy hadn’t put much thought into what was going to happen after he was sent off to school. His pѐre had been telling him for months now about how the boy would meet new friends, learn all sorts of new things, and quickly favor school over home. He trusted the man and decided that he was ready for this new adventure. His daddy on the other hand had almost cried none stop for a week now. The baby he spent long nights rocking to sleep, the toddler he watched take his first steps, the young man he watched over every day is about to be out of sight for eight long, grueling hours.

“Eren?” Levi growled when the boy received no reply, “Are you scaring our son? Asher, I promise you, there is nothing to worry about. You’re going to have the time of your life. Your daddy is just being a big baby.”

“I am not!” he shouted, quickly turning to the two of them, “My baby is just growing too fast!”

Tears started to prickle at his eyes as he rushed over, scooping the boy into his long arms. Levi couldn’t help but huff in amusement at his husband’s panic. They still had plenty of years to smother the boy. There is no point in crying yet.

***

Both men agreed they wanted to meet the teacher and see the classroom before leaving their son there.

“Hello there!” a young woman with short black hair approaches the three, directing her attention to the fathers, “My name is Ms. Langnar!”

“Hello,” Eren smiles sadly, shaking the woman’s outstretched hand, “We’re Eren and Levi Yeager-Ackerman. This is our son, Asher.”

“Oh!” she smiles brightly, turning a bit to address the small boy, “It’s so nice to meet you young man! Are you excited for your first day?”

Her bangs fell forward slightly, the rest of her hair being too short to move much.

“You look like Aunt Ymir,” the boy gushed, completely ignoring the woman’s question, “But you seem nicer.”

The woman bent down a little in laughter, caught off guard by the boy’s train of thought.

“Asher!” Eren gasped, “That wasn’t very nice! Your teacher just asked you a question!”

“Well they both have really pretty eyes,” the boy frowned, staring up at Eren.

Ms. Langnar continued to laugh, this time coupled with a blush.

“They do look a lot alike,” Levi mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. Even with pѐre’s agreement, Eren gave his son a pointed look.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the boy stepped up a little to get his teacher’s full attention, “I am really excited for school. Papa has been telling me all about it!”

“I’m glad,” she smiled brightly, “How about you go pick a desk and meet with some of your new classmates?”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded with his own big smile before rushing off. He picked one of the seats near the front, putting his backpack on the chair and bravely walking up to a circle of small children.

“Here’s a paper with the class’s curriculum,” Ms. Langnar grabbed the men’s attention away from their son, “My contact information is also here, right at the top.”

She must have seen the sadness creeping into Eren’s face when she rubbed his arm comfortingly.

“Don’t worry sir,” she smiled softly, “Your son will be just fine. He and the other students will be fast friends.”

“I’m not worried so much about him,” the man sighed, “I’m worried about me. What am I supposed to do all day? I’m so used to him being in the studio with me.”

Ever since they brought their son home, Eren took over the majority of the parental responsibilities. He kept his writing studio clean and kid-safe throughout their son’s life, keeping all danger out of reach. Whenever the man suffered from writer’s block, he would focus his attention on the boy, finding his inspiration during their time together. The man specialized in horror novels, drawing most of his ideas from what he knew his son was afraid of and putting it into a perspective for adults.

Sure, he spent a day away from the child every once in a while, letting Levi take over when he needed a moment to really focus. He’d spend a weekend away, the grandparents claiming him for the weekend, allowing Eren and Levi some time together. But eight hours of forced separation, five days a week for nine months for the next twelve years? That’s so much lost time.

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” Levi huffed, softly elbowing the man, before turning his attention to the teacher, shaking her hand, “Thank you for your time. Contact us at any time should you need to. Though, you’ll likely have an easier time getting ahold of Eren.”

“Noted,” she chirped, “Have a wonderful rest of the day.”

***

The rest of the day, Levi counseled his over-dramatic husband.

“I’m not ready for this!” the man wailed, lying on his stomach across the bed, “What if he doesn’t eat all his lunch? What if he can’t keep up with the class?”

“Brat, please,” Levi huffed, rubbing circles into the younger’s back, “You know that boy could out eat both of us if you let him, and he’s sharp as a whip. He’ll be fine. Now can you calm down long enough for me to listen to the news?”

“You don’t even care!” Eren accused, sitting up quickly, “You don’t understand! I spend all day with my baby! I have for the past five years! Now, all of a sudden, I have my time with him cut in half!”

“Eren,” Levi sighed heavily, “It’s not all of a sudden. He should have been in pre-K last year but you insisted he wasn’t ready when both of us knew he was. Now seriously brat, I’m trying to watch the news.”

“This terrorist group is now claiming the name of ‘The Titans’,” the reporter explained to the best of her abilities, probably having limited information to start with, “Police from the area tell us that these people have not been heard of by anyone until they recently started abducting citizens. Remains of victims have been found in the gathering places of this group but not much is known.”

“I believe we heard that this group seemed to be eating their victims,” the male reporter questioned, clearly knowing the answer to his own question, “Correct?”

“That’s what the police have told us so far,” the woman confirmed.

“Oh my god,” Eren gasped, talking over the rest of what the reports had to say, “Is it true?”

“They seem to be focused in the southwest,” Levi tries to calm the man down, “But we are trying to investigate every lead we have connected to it. We haven’t found much yet.”

***

“Today was the best day ever!” Asher exclaimed, bouncing in his spot in the backseat.

“That’s great baby!” Eren joined in on the boy’s excitement, “What all did you do?”

“Well first we all introduced ourselves,” the boy started, “Everybody was really amazed that I have a pѐre and a daddy. One girl asked me about my mommy though. I told her I don’t know. But after that we started to learn how to write letters but I already know how to do it so I helped a boy in my class. At lunch, we all sat at this really long table! I got to eat pizza! Then at recess, a lot of us played tag. Oh! And there’s a really pretty girl in my class!”

The two men chuckled and smiled together as the boy recited everything that had happened while they were gone.


	5. Chapter 5 Prompt 5

Number 5: Sick

“Daddy?” Asher asked in the quietest voice he could muster, “Daddy, I need to get to school.”

When the boy first woke up, he waited for Eren to help him get ready for school. Once the clock informed him that he only had half the time he normally had, he decided to check on his daddy but got no reply from the man. With only twenty minutes left before they had to get in the car, Asher decided to get ready on his own.

He picked out his own cloths, taking just enough time to consider his options, he prepared his own lunch, mainly consisting of baby carrots and Jell-O, and he even made sure all his homework was back in his backpack. Once their time was down to five minutes, the boy tried to get Eren’s attention again.

“Daddy!” Asher shouted this time, “Come on! We have to go!”

The man groaned to himself, clutching his head.

“Asher baby?” he gasped, trying to sit up, “I don’t think I can get you to school today. I’m sorry baby.”

“Why not?” Asher questioned, crawling onto his parents’ bed.

“I don’t feel too good,” he groaned, still clutching at the blanket, his brow covered in a thin layer of sweat.

The boy moved one of his small hands onto the top of his daddy’s head and the other to his own head.

“Daddy!” the boy gasped, “You’re so hot! We need to call pѐre! He’ll know what to do.”

Before Eren could even protest, the small boy was out of the bedroom and in the kitchen to grab the house phone. Eren and Levi made sure their son knew their phone numbers, just in case, so the boy had no trouble punching in the code to connect to his pѐre’s phone.

Sadly, the call went into voicemail. The man must have left his phone in his car before heading into work. Would it be okay if they called his pѐre’s office? Maybe there was somebody else he could call.

As the boy thought, he went back into the bedroom to try and comfort his daddy.

“I tried to call pѐre but he didn’t answer,” the boy explained glumly, “I’m sorry daddy. What can I do to help you?”

“Try calling Aunt Mikasa,” Eren told the boy through a coughing fit, “You have permission to use my phone.”

“Will do,” Asher nodded with plenty of determination for the both of them.

Leaving his daddy’s side, Asher went back to the living room, picking up the phone from the coffee table. Asher had been given permission to use the phone often enough that he could unlock the phone on his own and navigate it just as well as the man it belonged to.

After a few rings, Mikasa picked up.

“Hey Eren,” she hummed, “What’s up? How have you been?”

“Hi Aunt Mikasa,” the boy responded, “Daddy’s really sick and pѐre isn’t answering his phone. I don’t know what to do. Daddy told me to call you.”

“I’ll be right over,” she informed the worried boy, already on the move, “Just stay by him and keep the phone on you.”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded even though she couldn’t see him.

***

When Mikasa arrived, she would have kicked the door down if it hadn’t been for the boy opening it for her.

“How is he?” she asked the child, crouching to be at his eye level.

“He’s really warm,” he told her, worry clear in his small face, “And he keeps coughing. It looks really painful.”

“Well don’t worry,” she smiled warmly, “You and I can make him comfortable. I’ll call Uncle Armin and see what he thinks.”

It didn’t take the two long to get soup going for the man. They kept him company and made sure he got plenty of rest. Anything they thought would help, they tried. Armin had suggested trying some over the counter cold medicine but to go to the doctor if they were really worried. Eren didn’t start to feel any better until around three, when his headache finally started subsiding, leaving behind just a little chill and a sore throat.

“When does pѐre normally get home?” Mikasa asked, hoping that reinforcement would arrive soon.

“Around the same time Doc McStuffins ends,” he told her, not knowing much about the numbers on the clock.

“Okay,” she nodded, turning away, “That doesn’t help me much. That’s okay. We’ve got this.”

***

“Captain,” one of the lower ranking officers called for the man, “Shiganshina Police Department is on line two, they want to speak to you about that terrorist group.”

“I’m on it,” Levi nodded, picking up his office phone to see what his fellow officers needed.

Over the course of the phone call, Levi learned that the other department has reason to believe the Titans are on the move. Levi is to make sure his people are ready to deal with any attacks within their area and ready to lend aide to any neighboring cities should they need it.

The other city had already been attacked, citizens going missing, parts of them being found. What was found looks to be partially eaten. Doctors and medical examiners were trying their hardest to figure out what had been gnawing on the victims, and while they knew, they hoped they were wrong.

Aside from the abductions, homes and businesses were being destroyed at what seemed random and causing a general uproar with the civilians. What truly worried the police was that there didn’t seem to be a motive from this gruesome group. It was as if they simply did these heinous crimes for the pleasure of doing so. If they knew what their cause was, the police would have a solid lead and course of action to follow. They would have an idea of where to be and when. As of right now, all they could do was tell everyone to take precautions and hope they could figure this out as fast as possible.

***

“I’m home,” the man called into the quiet house, “Is anybody else?”

“Pѐre!” Asher cheered, running out of his parents’ room and into the man’s arms, “Quick! Daddy needs you!”

“I see you’re finally home,” Mikasa hummed from the chair at her brother’s side, “Another late shift?”

“Yeah,” he nodded lazily, standing between the siblings to feel his husband’s temperature, “Damn, he’s burning.”

“He was warmer earlier,” Mikasa informed him with a deep scowl, “He also had a pretty bad headache but that seemed to pass. Armin told us to give him some cold medicine but I don’t think it did much.”

“Let me see what I can do,” the man nodded.

***

It was late in the evening when Eren’s fever finally broke.

“Hey,” Levi called out gently, brushing the brunette’s bangs out of his eyes, “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” Eren groaned before coughing, “But not quite as dead. What time is it?”

“Around eight,” he answered, “Asher is already in bed.”

“Oh no!” Eren gasped, sitting up slightly, “I didn’t get him to school today!”

“It’s okay, brat,” Levi smirked, “One day off won’t hurt him.”


	6. Chapter 6 Prompt 23

Number 23: Sleepover

 

As the family sat at the table having dinner, the littlest man was looking owlishly between the older two. He had a very important question to ask but wasn’t sure how to approach the topic. He knew how much his pѐre hated messes and germs. How could he be sure he prevented any?

“Daddy? Pѐre?” he called timidly, making sure he ate all of his broccoli before asking for anything, “Could I have a friend over?”

“Which friend?” Eren asked with a big smile.

“His name is Elizabeth,” the boy smiled back brightly, “But he likes to go by Luke. He also doesn’t like to be called a girl.”

“Maybe we can meet Luke’s parents first,” Levi offered, knowing he wouldn’t be okay with sending his boy over to a stranger’s home, “Then we can talk about having him over.”

***

That Friday, the dinner table had four extra people sitting at it.

“So you work at the hospital?” Eren questioned the woman that seemed closer to Levi’s age than his.

“Yes,” she nodded with a smile, lowering her fork as she spoke, “I help deliver the babies. It’s amazing to see the parents’ faces when they see their child for the first time. Reminds me of how I felt both times.”

Her melancholy expression was directed to the children at the other end of the table, all three of them talking excitedly about their TV shows and games.

“Were you two there when your son was born?” the husband asked in a quiet tone, trying to avoid the attention of the little ones.

“Yes,” Levi sighed with a smile, though he would never admit it, having Asher softened him, “We had a surrogate mother. She looked like she could’ve been Eren’s female doppelgänger.”

“Of course,” Eren sighed grumpily, “We made the decision to have a traditional surrogate rather than an IVF. Around the seventh month, she started having doubts if she would want to give us our baby or not.”

“It was a total shit storm,” Levi grumbled, keeping his voice down.

“But I see it all worked out in the end,” the woman smiled brightly.

“Yes it did,” Eren beamed. As he continued to eat, he couldn’t help but gaze at their beautiful son who was speaking so adamantly with his friends.

“Have you thought of having a second child?” the man asked, leaning back in his chair as he sipped his wine, “Or is one enough?”

“I’d like to have another child,” Eren confessed, “And we’ve talked about it in passing, but we haven’t really made any big plan towards it.”

“We were talking about adopting this time,” Levi added with a shrug, “Maybe a daughter.”

“What about you?” Eren asked, leaning forward, “Do you have plans for a third?”

“Actually,” the woman blushed, biting her bottom lip she leaned forward as well, “We’re expecting.”

“Really?” Eren grinned, “Congrats!”

“Thank you,” she practically squealed.

***

Only a few days later, both boys were sitting in the middle of the living room, racing each other in Mario Cart. As Princess Peach passed both of them, they groaned. The race was over, they had lost. The boys had been neck and neck the entire race but now their honor was disgraced as Peach sassily took first place.

“At least she didn’t have a blue shell,” Luke grumbled, leaning back on his hands.

“Yeah,” Asher huffed, hanging his head in mock shame.

Within the next round, they had reclaimed their titles as the best. Though, a clear winner was never decided between the two. Neither minded the tie.

“Supper’s almost ready!” Levi called from the kitchen, trying to pull the children from their game, “Asher, can you please set the table?”

“Coming pѐre!” the child called back.

“I’ll help too,” Luke smiled, showing off his missing baby tooth.

***

“Pѐre?” Asher tugged on the man’s sleeve as he read the newspaper.

“Yes?” he asked within pulling his gaze from his reading.

“Can we make a pillow fort in here?” he asked sweetly.

“A pillow fort?” Eren questioned as he walked into the living room, his arms occupied with a full laundry basket, “That sounds like fun!”

“Well I suppose we can’t disappoint daddy,” Levi huffed, sending a heatless glare at his husband, “Can we?”

“Nope!” the three cheered.

***

“And finished!” Eren cheered, stepping back for a second with the boys.

The roof hung low and there were all kinds of crazy gaps where the blanket didn’t create walls. As one corner slipped and cause the whole thing to tumble, Eren winced while the boys sighed.

“Daddy,” Asher patted Eren’s hand, “I love you. But you really stink at making pillow forts.”

“I know,” he groaned, his head falling lax in disgrace.

“Is this really the best you can do?” Levi huffed as he came up to the man’s free side.

“I tried really hard!” the younger man defended himself.

“Mmhm, sure,” Levi nodded, smirking up at him, “Let me try. Asher, you take that far corner by the recliner. Luke, you take the other corner under those books. Let’s do this right.”

“What do you want me to do?” Eren asked, hoping he could at least help.

“Tea would be nice,” Levi mused, only half joking.

As Eren huffed, he made his way to the kitchen, murmuring about ‘a short tyrant’.

***

“Alright,” Eren called, trying to get the attention of the giggle boxes hidden away in their fort, “Time for bed.”

Eren bent down on all fours and pulled the make shift door out of his way. The two sat up from their pile of pillows and plush blankets. A book lay open between them, reminding him of when he and Armin would have sleepovers.

“Can’t we stay up a little bit later?” Luke pleaded, “Please?”

“I’m afraid not,” Eren breathed, shaking his head, “I already let you both stay up past your bed times. We don’t want you to sleep the day away tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Luke shrugged, accepting the facts, “We’ll go to sleep.”

“Thank you,” Eren smiled brightly.

***

“All went well?” Luke’s mom asked as Levi invited her in.

“Absolutely,” he nodded, watching as the boys put away the last of the pillows, “Sorry they’re still cleaning up.”

“Oh it’s no trouble,” she waved off his worried words, “I did get here a little early. I wanted to ask you if it’s true what they’re saying about that group; The Titans.”

“I’m not at liberty to say much,” he shook his head, trying his best not to come off as rude, “But I would exercise precaution.”

***

“Levi?” Eren whispered as they lay in bed.

“What brat?” he grumbled, having almost fallen asleep.

“I think I really do want another baby,” he swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew Levi didn’t mind the idea of another child. It was the stress of going through the system that made them hesitate.

“You think?” Levi hummed, lying on his back as he stared at those beautiful eyes.

“Well,” he groaned, turning away to also lie on his back, “I know I want another. What do you think? We could always do a surrogate again.”

“What about Asher?” Levi questioned, threading his fingers between Eren’s, “What do you think he will make of this situation?”

“I,” Eren choked for a second, “I don’t know.”


	7. Chapter 7 Prompt 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I know this is totally without warning but from now on I'll be updating on Thursday/Friday night, the same time I update my Skyrim fanfic.
> 
> Also, y'all have caught up to me on the chapters that are finished, this is my last finished one. I'm going to try to get the next chapter up on time but it probably won't be. After this chapter though, I believe I'll be able to pop more chapters out real quick. Though finals are coming up and I will have to focus on those so again, I'll try but I make no promises!

“Ready to go, baby?” Eren called as he grabbed his wallet and keys.

            Asher bounced down the stairs, Batman clutched in his hand. It wasn’t everyday he got to go shopping with his parents, even if it is just to the grocery store. It’s even rarer that he gets to go with his daddy, who makes every outing an adventure.

            “Ready!” he cheered, practically jumping in place.

            “Batman is coming with us?” Eren asked with a raised eyebrow, opening the door for his son, “What about the Joker? Won’t he get out and run amuck?”

            “Wonder Woman is watching the bad guys right now,” he explained, forcing himself not to run to the car, “It’s Batman’s day off.”

            “Well hopefully we can make his day off worthwhile,” Eren chuckled as Asher buckled himself into his car seat.

***

            “Now stay right at my side,” Eren told his son as he climbed out of the back seat.

            “Yes sir,” the boy nodded quickly, sticking to his daddy’s side.

            “Do you want to sit in the buggy?” Eren asked as he pulled the cart out, “We’ll probably be here for a while.”

            “No thank you,” the boy shook his head, “I want to walk.”

            “Okay then,” he smiled.

            As they started to move on from the row of carts, a pair of young women came up to the man’s side.

            “Is this your son?” one of them asked, blushing a bit as her red bangs fell into her face.

            “Huh?” Eren was taken back for a second; he was plenty used to people walking up to him to chat but to be questioned about his son, that was abnormal, “Oh. Uh, yeah he is.”

            “He’s so cute!” the other girl squealed, her round face scrunching up in excitement.

            “How old are you cutie pie?” the red head asked the boy, crouching to be closer to his level.

            “I’m five,” he smiled proudly, holding up his fingers to show her.

            “Oh my goodness!” she gasped, “You’re so big! Where’s your mommy? Or is it just you and dad for the day?”

            “Mommy?” the boy questioned, tilting his head a bit.

            “It’s actually daddy and papa in our family,” Eren quickly explained.

            “Oh!” both girls turned red, “We’re sorry! We didn’t mean any offense!”

            “It’s okay,” Eren chuckled, waving off the apologies, “We’re used to it. Though my husband has it even worse, I don’t know how he keeps the women off him.”

            The women giggled shyly, still bright red.

            “Well we’ll let you get back to it,” the red head stammered, “It was nice to meet you both!”

            “Likewise,” Eren smiled, nodding his head at his son.

            “Bye bye!” Asher smiled brightly, following his daddy.

            “I told you!” the round faced girl whispered as she smacked the other’s arm lightly, “I knew he was too hot to be straight.”

***

            “Why does everybody assume I have a mommy?” Asher asked his daddy as the man judged the apples in front of him, “Is our family strange?”

            Eren quickly started shaking his head when he saw the sad expression on the boy’s face.

            “No!” he tried to laugh off the shock, “It’s just not as common. There are plenty of families like ours. Everybody’s family is a little different though. Some kids have two mommies, others have a mom and a dad, and others have step parents, single parents and all sorts of others.”

            “Okay,” he sighed, still a bit worried.

            “Even if we were strange,” Eren continued, ruffling the boy’s hair, “We love each other and that’s all that really matters. Right?”

            “Right,” the boy nodded with a bright smile.

            Having been reassured that all was good, his imagination began to wonder. As fun as his daddy could be, he could also be terribly boring when he was trying to pick fruit. The boy started to watch as Batman ran across the fruit stand, dodging giant fruit monsters and making his way to the city of Veggie-tham.

            He battled invisible villains that tried to eat the innocent baby tomatoes. As he won against enemies, he continued to travel through the grocery world. Soon enough he was in front of the fish stand, watching as Batman sailed across the sea, catching fish after fish.

            Before he knew it, he was in a clothing aisle. Looking around, he realized nothing was familiar.

            “Daddy?” he called out, walking a little further to try and find something familiar, “Daddy?”

            “Hey,” a familiar voice asked, the same woman from before coming up, “What are you doing alone?”

            “Where’d your dad go?” the red head followed shortly after.

            “I don’t know,” he started to worry, tears prickling at his eyes, “I didn’t think I walked that far away.”

            “Hey,” the round faced girl hushed him softly, “It’s okay, you’re okay. We’ll help you find him!”

            “You will?” he brightened even though his eyes still watered.

            “Of course!” the red head cheered, stretching her hand out, “Come on, let’s get you back to him!”

            Wiping his tears on his sleeve, he reached for the offered hand, obediently following.

            “What’s your name?” the red head asked, “Mine’s Misty, and that’s Ashley.”

            “My name’s Asher,” he smiled, “Daddy’s name is Eren.”

            While they walked back to the food aisles, Asher’s mind wondered to what he just questioned his daddy on. He also couldn’t help but think back to what he had overheard not long ago.

            “Why did you think I had a mommy?” he asked suddenly while the women were looking through the people surrounding them.

            “What?” Misty was taken back by the question, “Well, um. Ashley?”

            “I don’t-” she tried not to take over the explanation, “I mean. It’s just that…”

            Both were lost as to how they would explain how babies were made without giving a five-year-old _the talk_.

            “Do you know where babies come from?” Misty asked, maybe he already knew.

            “Well my aunt Petra is going to have a baby,” he hummed, trying to figure out the science behind it with what little sources he had, “And the baby is growing inside her.”

            “Right,” she sighed, grateful to have something to go off of, “Well women can do that. A man and a woman, um, work together to create a baby and then it grows inside the woman until it’s ready to say hello to the world!”

            “So since you were a baby at one point,” Ashley tried to help her friend, praying Eren wouldn’t be too angry at them, “You had to come from a woman. But that doesn’t mean your daddy and papa can’t love and cherish you. They just must have gotten help getting you somehow.”

            “You mean I do have a mom?” he asked, worry and hurt written across his face, “Did she not love me? Why don’t I know her?”

            “Oh honey, that’s not,” Misty shook her head, this was not where she was trying to go with this conversation.

            “I overheard daddy and pѐre talking,” he started to sniffle as tears fell, “Daddy says that I’m not his. He’s afraid I won’t love him if he tells me. Did pѐre not always love daddy? Did he only find daddy because my mommy didn’t want me?”

            His little heart couldn’t take it, he started to sob and clutched the hem of his shirt as the tears flowed down his cheeks.

            “Asher!” a deep voice called frantically from a few aisles away.

            “Go get him,” Ashley pointed as she tried to calm the hysterical child.

            Misty stood and ran toward the man calling for his son.

            “Eren!” she called out when she spotted him, “He’s with us!”

            He dashed over to her side looking around her.

            “He was asking us why we thought he had a mom,” she tried to explain quickly before he realized Asher was the crying child, “I thought we explained it fairly well but, um, well he had several other questions we don’t know the answers to.”

            Once he caught sight of the boys crying face, he rushed to his side, falling to his knees as he tried to sooth the boy.

            “Asher, baby,” he called, running his thumbs across the rosy cheeks to clear them of tears, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

            “You,” he gasped, stuttering as he hiccupped, “You s-said that I.”

            He began to wail as he tried to repeat the accusation to his daddy.

            “That I-I’m not yours,” he practically screamed as he cried. People were trying not to look at the scene but curious eyes shot daggers at the man.

            “Asher,” he called softly, “What do you mean? I never said that.”

            “Ye-es you did!” he did scream this time, “You told pѐre th-that you were scared I-I would hate you.”

            As realization hit Eren, he felt it like a ton of bricks slamming into his gut. He thought the boy had been in bed asleep, he must have had a bad dream and overheard their conversation.

            “Did my mommy not want me?” he asked quietly, trying to calm his breathing.

            “Baby,” Eren cooed, trying to keep the boy calm, “Your pѐre and I wanted a baby, we wanted _you_. So a nice lady helped us make you. She looked a lot like me so your pѐre worked with her to create you. _My_ beautiful baby boy. She did want you. She almost fought us to keep you but she had promised she would give you to us.”

            “Can I meet her?” he asked softly, still hiccupping but otherwise calmed down.

            “I,” Eren gasped, he already knew it was likely the boy would want to meet her but he still didn’t want to share his precious child with her, “I don’t know. Pѐre and I will have to talk about it. Okay?”

            “Okay,” the little boy bowed his head glumly as he stretched his arms out for the man, “Will you carry me? Please?”

            “Sure,” he smiled as he hugged the child close to him before turning to the two women, “Thank you.”

            “No problem,” Misty shyly nodded.


	8. Chapter 8 Prompt 94

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me go! I did it! I managed to finish the chapter on time!  
> Probably won't be so lucky next week...sorry.

Number 94: Must Tell the Truth

 

“He wants to meet her,” Eren huffed when his husband walked into their home.

Levi stopped in his tracks, his hand pausing as he placed his keys on their hook and stared at Eren. His breathing even stopped for a moment while he tried to process what was being said and why it was coming to pass.

“You told him?” Levi questioned, not expecting such a thing to happen nearly as soon as it did.

“Long story short, yes,” he nodded quickly, not wanting to tell the easy to anger man that he had lost their son for more than a few minutes.

Levi tried not to let his suspicion leak into his gaze but there was only so much of it he could hold back. As he quirked one thin brow at his rowdy husband, he could tell the man was about to burst. It only took a blink or two for Eren to spill his guts, telling Levi every little gruesome detail that he had tried to ignore.

“I’ll see if I can arrange something with her,” he nodded, his fringe falling into his eyes, before sitting in his recliner, “And Eren?”

“Yeah?” he questioned innocently.

“You’re not allowed to take Asher to the store alone anymore,” Levi stated, only sparing a glance at his blushing husband.

***

Asher tried to focus on his homework but the longer he tried, the worse off his concentration became. He thought about abandoning the task but then his pѐre would find out and be angry with him. An angry pѐre meant lots of cleaning and scrubbing for the boy, something he had even less interest in doing.

Perhaps a small snack would help him concentrate. His daddy had just finished baking some of those cookies he had bought from the school’s fundraiser. Surely he wouldn’t notice one cookie missing from the plate.

Quietly, Asher made his way to the kitchen, looking over his shoulder and gently taking steps. Once he reached the counter, he stood on tip-toes to reach for a cookie. It wasn’t too hard and he managed to eat the whole thing before either parent wondered into the kitchen area.

In fact, it was so easy, he could do it again. His little hand snuck its way up to the plate of chocolate chip cookies again, grabbing two this time. Again, he finished them off quickly.

Though now, the need for milk was really driving his taste buds wild.

Luckily, he didn’t have to be as sneaky about the milk. Both his parents thought he needed to drink more of it anyways. With Levi’s height, they thought the boy could use any nutrients he could get to outgrow the man.

Staying quiet, Asher pulled a chair into the kitchen from the dining room. He just wasn’t near tall enough to reach the cabinets.

Climbing onto the chair, he reached up and found himself a glass. Now he was being careful, not for the fear of getting in trouble but not wanting to fall or break the glass.

As he picked up the milk jug from the fridge, he realized just how heavy it was. He really wasn’t sure if he could even get it up to the counter but he might as well try. After setting the jug up on the counter, he climbed back onto the chair, quickly pouring himself a glass. The jug wobbled in his hands but he managed to only spill a little bit. He can clean that up easy!

He climbed back down, feeling rather confident in his ability to get away with his tiny crime. But when he grabbed the jug of milk and pulled it his way off the counter, he forgot to account for how heavy it was. The jug plopped against his chest before falling to the floor, busting open, spilling milk everywhere.

Small hands clasped his mouth, holding back a gasp and shout. Amazingly, the noise didn’t catch his parents’ attention. He definitely didn’t want to draw them to take notice with his own reaction.

He knew that there was no point in crying of spilt milk, but that was a new gallon and now there was a gaping hole in the side of the jug and none left. His parents are reasonable but how happy could a person be about a wasted gallon?

As fast as he could, Asher gathered a mop and bucket, wanting to take care of the mess before either man could see it.

***

Asher managed to clean up every drop and discard any evidence before Levi came into the kitchen to start supper.

“What are you up to?” Levi asked casually, not expecting his son to be in the kitchen, wiping the counter.

“Oh!” the boy squeaked, startled, “I um, I made a little mess. I was just cleaning up.”

“Good,” he hummed his approval, happy his son took after him in that department. While Eren might be great at cleaning, he often left the mess for longer than necessary.

As he gathered ingredients, Asher tried to make his way out of the kitchen as quick as possible.

“Asher,” Levi called, instantly spiking the boy’s anxiety, he must have figured it out.

“Yes Pѐre?” he asked, turning to face the man and hoping to seem innocent.

“Didn’t daddy say he went to the store earlier?” he questioned.

“I think so,” Asher nodded, his black bangs hiding his face.

“Could you ask him if he brought in the butter?” Levi asked walking away from the fridge to start what he could.

“Um,” he hummed quickly, “Yes sir.”

The boy dashed off, thankful the man didn’t need the milk. He slowly made his way to his daddy’s office, trying to think of ways to keep either man from noticing the lack of milk. He could say he drank it all. But then they would know that’s a lie.

“Daddy? Pѐre needs butter and can’t find it,” he called into the space. He always loved playing in his daddy’s writing studio. There was always plenty of paper to draw on, tons of books the man would read to him upon request, and a whole area for him and his toys. He always would tell his daddy about his dreams, both bad and good, and Eren would tell him his hopes and wishes for his son and their family.

After the shopping adventure, his parents told him they were going to meet up with the woman who helped bring him into this world. Then Eren admitted that he and Levi had talked about having another baby.

As far as the boy was concerned, another baby meant a full time friend!

“I might have put it behind the ham in the door shelf,” he answered absentmindedly, trying to focus on the page he was working on.

***

Dinner went on without any problems. As they finished off their plates, Levi had to ask.

“Eren?” he called the man’s attention, “Didn’t you buy milk?”

“Yes,” he nodded, looking up suspiciously, knowing he put it up. He had seen it just that morning.

“I didn’t see a jug,” Levi shook his head, “Did it get used up already?”

Asher couldn’t help but shake in his seat. This was it, this is how he’s going down.

“It hadn’t even been opened yet when I was in the kitchen earlier,” Eren shook his head back.

“I,” Asher spook up, his voice shaking, “I spilt it.”

He could feel the tears coming on as the men looked over at him.

“Where at? When?” Levi asked, worry straining his thoughts at the idea of a stain all over the wooden flooring.

“In the kitchen,” Asher whimpered, knowing his parents would be angry, “Before you started supper. I’m sorry.”

“In the kitchen?” Eren questioned, “I didn’t see any mess.”

“There wasn’t a drop anywhere,” Levi awed, having not noticed a thing out of place, “You must have done a good job of cleaning up.”

“But what were you using the milk for?” Eren questioned knowing his son didn’t care for the drink.

“I,” he groaned, forgetting he would have to admit to his thieving as well, “I ate some of the cookies.”

“You let him have cookies before supper?” Levi rose a thin brow at Eren.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Eren frowned before both men focused on the boy again.

“I didn’t get permission,” he whimpered in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”

“Asher,” Eren groaned, “I’m disappointed young man. You know better.”

“I know,” he sniffed as the tears trickled down his cheeks, “I’m sorry.”

“Well I suppose it didn’t do too much damage,” Levi sighed, “A whole carton of milk but I rather it have been cleaned up than leave a stain. Next time, you should ask, and no more cookies for you tonight. Maybe tomorrow _after_ supper you can have some.”

“Yes sir,” Asher nodded quickly.


	9. Chapter 9 Prompt 63

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. Really, I am. I hit a major block with this since I just added a major character to my other fan fic and it pretty much took over every bit of inspiration I had.   
> I still can't promise frequent updates, it's very much a: I'll post when I can. But I do have a plan and whole story line I'm following!

Number 63: Carnival Day

Today was the day, Eren and Levi would see the woman that made their baby possible, for a first time since the day they met their son.

When Levi had contacted the woman, she was over joyed to know that the boy wanted to meet her. She couldn’t wait for this day, opposing Eren’s feelings on the matter. If Eren could have his way, the boy wouldn’t know he had a mother until he was old enough to not care.

Levi normally just wanted their son to be clean and presentable but though out the morning, he had his son change at least five times. While he didn’t need or even want the woman’s approval, he did want to show off the beautiful baby she helped them create.

“We’re meeting her at the restaurant,” Eren sighed, already dreading what was to come, “Correct?”

“That’s the plan,” Levi nodded as he straightened his tie. He never considered himself one to dress down, even for simple errand runs, so he was most defiantly going to bring his a-game to reunite with her.

“How do I look?” Eren asked nervously, much more concerned about what the day could bring than his husband.

Eren wore a plaid over shirt on top of a white shirt with his nicest pair of jeans, all but the top button done.

“Like a brat,” Levi huffed, sliding his feet into his shoes before walking in front of the man, smirking, “But a handsome brat.”

Their lips were only pressed together for a second before Asher ran down the stairs, stopped near them and giggled. With his tiny hands covering his smile, he tried to control his giggling fit before the men separated.

“Are we ready to go?” Levi asked, casting his gaze down toward his son.

***

The restaurant was a bit fancy for the young boy but he supposed it was nicer than meeting in a fast food place.

As the small family sat and waited, they nibbled on chips and salsa. Eren was the first to see her, quickly recognizing the woman that could have claimed to be his sister.

“Eren!” she greeted as she came up to their table, her long chocolate hair swaying behind her, “Levi! It’s been so long!”

“Yes,” Levi agreed, “It has been. How have you been?”

“I’ve been well,” she smiled before turning her bright green eyes to Asher, “Is this the beautiful baby?”

“Yes, his name is Asher,” Eren told her as he scooted over so that she could sit down. Now Eren and the woman shared one side of the table, Levi across from his husband, Asher across from his mother.

“Asher,” she repeated with a long breath of air, taking in the feel of it, “That’s a wonderful name! Well Asher, my name is Kerin.”

***

It wasn’t long before the Levi was chatting with the woman like an old friend. After they had eaten, Asher practically clung to the woman. For the first time in his life, as short as it may be so far, he had a mom. Not only was he able to meet his mom, but she wanted to love him just as he loved her but that would be breeching their contract. The men made sure that she could meet the boy if he wanted to, but she was in no way his mother other than giving birth to him.

Levi would like to hate her for trying to keep their baby but she had given him to them in the end. Eren on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with her and he was already shaking, ready for their interaction to be over.

“Asher,” the woman called for the little boy’s attention while he played with the shinning ring on her finer, “Have you ever been to the carnival?”

His thin brows furrowed while he tried to remember but he wasn’t sure if he was even familiar with the word.

“No ma’am,” he finally decided, “Why?”

“Well there’s one in town this weekend,” she smiled, turning in her seat to fully view him, “They don’t close until midnight. I was thinking, if your dads don’t mind, maybe we could go to it? All of us, of course.”

“That could be fun,” Levi smiled to his husband, trying to push the images of germ covered rides from his mind. He did want Asher to enjoy such things.

***

It wasn’t long before the family found themselves at the carnival, tickets in hand, and all three grownups focusing solely on the boy.

“What would you like to do first, honey?” Kerin asked him, ignoring the face Eren made.

“Let’s go on the ferries wheel!” he cheered, bouncing up and down, “Can we please?”

“Of course, baby,” Eren smiled, letting his envy momentarily take control.

***

The majority of their day was spent following Asher and his ideas, trying to find a balance between the boy’s fathers and the woman the boy wanted to know.

While the sun was sitting, Asher couldn’t hold back his loud yawn and it caused a chorus of awing from the grownups with him and a few passing strangers. They couldn’t help themselves when his little fist tried to rub the tired out of his eye while his chubby face scrunched up in exhaustion.

“Daddy,” Asher yawned again, tugging on the man’s hand, “I had a lot of fun, but I’m tired now.”

“Okay baby,” he smiled gently, lifting the boy into his arms, “We can head home now.”

“Before you go,” Kerin called softly, “Can I get a hug? I know this won’t be a regular thing, so I’d like to enjoy every bit I can before it’s over.”

As Eren looked at her glum face, recognizing the sad defeat in her eyes, he felt a tingle of regret for acting coldly toward her. She had wanted to be a part of the boy’s life, agreements or no agreements. 

“Of course,” he smiled, nodding as he moved closer so that Asher could wrap his arms around her shoulders.

As they shared a hug, screaming came from down the pathway.

“What’s happening?” Kerin questioned as herds of people ran past them, holding their children close and trying to maneuver through the crowd.

“I don’t know,” Eren shook his head, looking around for his husband as he held onto Asher, “We’ll figure it out later. Let’s go.”

They rushed toward the parking lot, hoping Levi would catch up and that they’d make it away from the danger, whatever it was.

“Kerin, please watch over Asher,” Eren pleaded, handing the boy over, “I have to find Levi.”

“Wait!” she called out as the man sprinted back into the madness, “Eren!”

***

“Put your weapons down!” Levi commanded toward the row of crazed people. They all wore the same blank grins, their eyes hollow of all emotion. In their clenched fist, they held onto guns and baseball bats with nails protruding from every side.

Two other officers stood by Levi’s sides, trying to control the situation but the Titans had already grabbed onto one woman and were holding her behind their line. There was nothing they could do as one of the Titans placed his hands on both sides of the woman’s head, twisting sharply, snapping her neck. The man’s grin broadened as he practically drooled over her.

If the police tried to shoot at them, the Titans would simply open fire on the citizens surrounding them. All the innocent lives around them needed to get out before the officers could do anything.

“This is officer Oluo,” the man spook into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder, “We need backup at Trost Carnival, immediately! Titans have infiltrated the premises and have already taken one hostage.”

“We’re sending back up now,” the voice on the other line spook.

It was within seconds that a sniper shot Oluo through his shoulder, causing him to collapse and cry out in pain.

“Oluo!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so now I'm REALLY sorry! If I tried to finish this moment, this chapter would have dragged way out and I think it's best for the challenge thingy if I just break it up.  
> Interesting fact: there weren't going to be any titans in this fic until my brother told me "you can NOT have a SnK fanfic without titans, then it's just Attack on...meh!" Which is also how I came up with the name of this fic! So we were joking about this being "Attack on Parenthood" and I was totally tempted to rewrite the summary and rename this and do away with the titans. But I do have a plan so I have to keep them.  
> Anyways, sorry for babbling. Thank you for reading! Comments are always appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10 Prompt 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah! I actually made it on time?! How crazy is that???
> 
> This quick update is dedicated to Keltrix for their awesome comment! (I'm am being 100% sincere)

Number 19: A Living Nightmare

Levi kneeled over Oluo, protecting him from any further injury, watching the Titans closely.

“You all have such interesting faces,” he commented, his gun pointed and ready to fire. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the last civilian ran away.

As the woman ran out of sight, one of the Titans began moving, swinging their bat back then upwards. The man was preparing to strike Levi but his bat was nothing in comparison to Levi’s gun. By time the man fell, he was littered with bullet holes but every other Titan in the line was on the move. They made their way toward the officers, surrounding them with their street-fighting weaponry. Those with guns moved on to the citizens, opening fire just as the officers predicted.

Levi and Eld shot and took down as many as they could but if it hadn’t been for backup arriving, they would have been quickly overwhelmed.

“This way, it’ll be alright,” one officer commanded the public, trying to evacuate the area. The crowd stampeded through the parking lot, children were screaming while their mothers cried. One father had jumped between his family and the barrel of one titan’s gun.

Kerin was doing her best to sooth Asher but Eren hadn’t returned yet and Levi was likely at the front of the action.

“It’ll be okay,” she tried to say evenly as her own tears flowed, “Both of them will be okay.”

“But what if the Titans get them?” he cried, searching her face for confidence and truth but found nothing but fear. This woman may be his biological mother and look just like his daddy, but she was not his mom. He couldn’t stand the fear of losing either of the men.

“They will be okay,” she tried to smile through a laugh, wiping away his tears.

While they had been at the parking lot before, they quickly retreated when one of the Titans had been hiding out there and started firing at the crowd that flooded to their cars. Now they had locked themselves into one of the bathrooms and then within a stall.

When the door banged open with the loud sound of gun fire, they both suppressed their screams. Quietly, Kerin pulled Asher into her arms and tried to tuck him into an almost invisible spot.

As she stood up, she put her finger to her lips, tears rolling down her cheeks. She quietly sat herself in the middle of the stall, making sure if they were found, she would be the only one spotted. She jumped in her skin every time one of the stall doors was slammed in, the Titan obviously looking for somebody to bite into.

She bit her bottom lip as she shivered, sending a silent prayer as the slamming doors grew closer and closer. Before it was too late, she looked at Asher and sent him a hand signal, her thumb, index, and pinky standing up while her middle and ring finger bent down into her palm. Then she covered her eyes, waiting for Asher to do the same.

When their door was slammed open she let out a low cry, closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

The Titan smiled broadly as he hungrily watched her. As he swooped in to attack, she sprang to her feet, grabbing the man and bringing him down. While she had the upper hand at the moment, using her weight and angle to her advantage, she knew she wouldn’t win.

“Run Asher!” she cried out, already struggling to stay on top, “Run and find somewhere safe!”

She focused on keeping the Titan under her as Asher stood and ran, his little feet causing echoes though the restroom. Several more tears fell from her eyes and onto the Titan’s face as she used all her strength to give Asher a chance to live.

***

There were people huddled behind buildings and obstacles, trying to sooth their children and coax them into staying quiet. Eren tried to sneakily make his way further and further into danger. He had to find Levi. Kerin would get Asher somewhere safe, he just had to keep himself safe long enough to find his husband.

He ducked behind a building and made himself as small as possible when a Titan came walking through the path, smiling strangely. It was like they were under some kind of trance. They weren’t even human anymore.

He wanted to ask why but if he did, he would have blown what little cover he had. When he saw the Titan raising his gun and aiming for a small child cowering in a corner, he leaped into action. Eren ran out from his hiding spot and tackled the Titan to the ground.

“Don’t you dare!” he shouted as he wrestled the gun away from the monstrous man, “Don’t you dare _touch_ that child!”

The strange man swung his fist up, striking Eren in the face hard enough to knock him off. Eren could taste the copper in his mouth but ignored it while he retackled the monster. Even though Eren hated violence, he couldn’t lay down while an innocent child’s life was on the line.

“I’ll kill all of you if I have to!” Eren spat at the Titan while he threw punch after punch. Once his fists were covered in blood splatters and the Titan lay lifeless underneath him, he stood and looked around.

“Levi!” he started to call out, hoping the man would hear him. He still was nowhere to be found and at this point he could only pray he would find him.

His eyes widened when he finally caught sight of the man, hanging onto Erwin’s shoulder while he hopped on one foot.

“Levi!” Eren called in relief, running over to the injured man, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“One of the bastards swiped at my feet,” Levi groaned, letting go of Erwin in favor of Eren, “My ankle may be broken, may be fractured, or may be twisted. I’ll have to let medical take a look at it. Wait. Where are Asher and Kerin?”

“I got them to the parking lot before I,” Eren tried to explain before Levi cut him off by his widening eyes.

“The parking lot?” he questioned, voice quiet and wavering, “Did you see them get into a car?”

“No, but,” Eren tried to remain calm but it was not an easy task when his rock was shaking.

“Eren,” Levi breathed out, taking in long breaths, “There was one of them out there. We got a report about twenty minutes ago. They opened fire in the parking lot.”

Tears started to prickle at Eren’s eyes while Levi’s hollowed, not allowing himself to succumb to fear before the battle was over.

“Oh my god,” Eren gasped, his knees shaking underneath his weight, “Oh my god! Our baby!”

His knees did give out, landing him on the ground with Levi falling with him.

“Our baby!” Eren tried not to scream as he sobbed, envisioning the sight of their son lying dead in a pool of blood, “Oh god Levi!”

“There’s a chance they got away,” Erwin intervened, “The report also said that they saw a few citizens running away from that area.”

“Eren, honey,” Levi whispered in the younger man’s hair, “We have to remain calm until we know. I know it’s hard but we have to believe he’s okay.”

Eren tried to take in a few deep breaths while he could, collecting his thoughts and working to regain his composer. Once he felt like he could stand again, he quietly nodded to Levi before pulling the both of them up.

“First we need to get both of you somewhere safe,” Erwin commanded, “He’s hurt and we can’t have a civilian out here in the cross fire.”

***

Once they had gotten Levi to the medical team, parties of officers were reporting that the Titans had pulled away. They were finding a few stragglers but for the most part, the terrorist had practically disappeared as fast as they had appeared.

“Officers are searching for injured or frightened civilians now,” Erwin informed the two men. A nurse was currently securing Levi’s foot and ankle until he could get the hospital and Eren stayed right by his side.

“Is there a team gathering and identifying the dead?” Levi asked somberly, hoping his son would be found alive.

“Yes,” Erwin nodded curtly, “Sector 4 is currently checking the parking lot. The others are checking the rest of the park.”

The police had come over the intercoms informing the people the threat was gone but if a child had been separated, it would come as no surprise if they were hesitant to come out.

An hour or two passed while the two fathers refused to move. A small boy, half his face covered in blood came shivering up to a circle of officers as they chatted.

“U-um, excuse me,” he called in such a tiny voice, the officers nearly missed his summons, “I-I’m looking for somebody.”

“Oh sweetie,” one of the female officers cried out when she spotted him, quickly grabbing a shock blanket from an ambulance nearby and wrapped it around the small boy, “Oh sweetheart. Are you okay? Are you looking for your parents?”

He nodded softly at her questions, keeping his eyes downcast so that she wouldn’t see his tears.

“My pѐre is a police man,” he sniffled as he tried not to cry anymore, “And we got separated. I don’t know where my daddy is either. And my mom-”

He couldn’t continue his explanation as the flood gates opened and he loudly wept. Levi over heard the commotion and chose to go over and see if he could help with anything, much to Eren’s disapproval.

“What seems to be the problem?” he asked quietly, waiting for an answer. When he looked down at the child crying, he instantly fell to his knees in front of the boy, “Asher?”

“Pѐre?” the boy stopped his sobbing long enough to choke out the word and look at the man, “Pѐre! You’re okay!”

Asher clang to the man’s neck for dear life, refusing to let go for any reason.

“Eren!” Levi called out as he held his son close, “Eren! He’s okay!”

At his own words, he looked over the boy, instantly becoming worried when he saw all the blood.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly, rubbing one of the boy’s chubby cheeks, “Are you hurt at all?”

The boy shook his head before facing his daddy and running into the man’s arms.

“Oh Asher!” Eren cried as he squeezed him tightly, “Oh baby, I was so worried!”

***

It was an hour later when a team brought back a woman, missing an arm and half her leg, on a stretcher. Levi was informed that the woman was in fact Kerin and it didn’t seem likely that she would make it.

“Is she conscious?” Levi asked quietly, checking over his shoulder to see that Eren had Asher in his arms, moving to their car to buckle the boy in.

“No, not yet,” one of the men standing by told him, “They’re rushing her to the ER now. She’s in critical condition sir.”

“Do you think there’s even a chance she’ll pull through?” he asked with a strained voice.

“I don’t know sir,” the young man sighed heavily, “All we can do is pray the doctors and nurses can save her.”

Levi nodded quickly before limping his way over to his small family.

“She loved you so much Asher,” Eren was explaining quietly while sitting with the boy in the backseat of their car, “In fact, before you were born, she told us she was keeping you. She had decided she didn’t want to give you up.”

“Then how come she did?” the boy asked softly, his eyes soft and tired.

“We had a promise, before you started to grow,” Eren tried to explain, “She had promised that once you were born she would give all her rights to you away. She had promised you would be all ours. There was no way she could break her promise either. Your pѐre and I talked about it for a while after she told us that and we decided we would allow her to see you, if that was what you wanted. I promised not to refuse letting you see her and she promised she wouldn’t try to take you from us.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Asher asked after a small silent moment, playing with the buckle of his car seat.

“We don’t know yet,” Levi kept his voice calm, not letting any doubt be portrayed in his expression, as he made his presence known, “But we can always hope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don't even want to know how many times I re-wrote this chapter. To kill Kerin or not to kill Kerin; that is the question! I still haven't decided.
> 
> For future reference to all readers: if you don't like a character, let me know. Even if it's Eren or Levi (though if you don't like them then why would you be reading this?), I have the perfect plan! So please! Tell me you don't like one of them! It would bring me so much joy! I am NOT joking!
> 
> Thanks again for reading! Comments are well loved!
> 
> One last note! I wrote a one-shot for Riren. It's purely smut and has nothing to do with this universe/story line. Just wanted to mention it in case you're interested.


	11. Chapter 11 Prompt 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: this chapter kinda sucks. There was literally no other way I could think of to move onto the next part of the story without it being too much drama at once.
> 
> I'm all for drama, don't get me wrong! But it's just not what I want for this story for the most part.
> 
> So I apologize for what you're about to suffer through.
> 
> Thank you for reading and please come back, it'll be better next time. I promise!

Number 22: False Accusation

_Asher_

I could feel my heart hammering against my chest so quickly, I thought it might burst. My legs and arms shook as I sat in a high branch of a huge tree. I tried to steady my breathing but my lungs feel like they’re on fire.

“Dad!” I called out in a voice that I barely recognized as my own, “Pѐre! Where are you?”

Tears made their way down my cheeks as I tried to calm down. In a strange way, I knew what was chasing me. Like a memory I had forgotten. I looked around, knowing but not knowing what I feared to be there.

Giant teeth peeked through the branches before the face lowered so that its eyes could see me. My whole body was shaking as I let out a small whimper.

When I closed my eyes, I could hear crunching and screaming.

***

_Third person_

Asher shot up in bed, gasping for air before he started to bawl.

“Daddy!” he cried out, burning his throat as tears flowed down his cheeks, snot and drool down his chin, “Daddy!”

“I’m here!” Eren called out as he ran into the boy’s room, “I’m right here, baby.”

“Daddy,” Asher tried to calm down but couldn’t hold back his fear or nausea.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Eren asked softly as he pulled the crying boy into his arms, “Was it the same one?”

“Yes,” he sniffled, having regained a little control over his tears now that he wasn’t alone, “Where’s pѐre?”

“He’s still at work,” Eren hummed, “But he’ll be back soon. Just a couple more hours and then he’ll get off and come straight home.”

It had been about a week since the attack at the carnival. Asher had started having a reoccurring nightmare about creatures he couldn’t quiet explain to either of them but he knew they wanted to eat people. Levi had started taking longer shifts, working further into the night if not all night. While Eren took it upon himself checked on Kerin whenever he could and tried to keep Asher calm.

“Can I sleep with you until pѐre comes home?” the boy asked gently while Eren rocked him in his arms.

“Of course,” the man smiled, placing a kiss on his head before standing up and carrying the boy down the stairs.

***

When Levi arrived home, he felt like death. His feet and legs ached while he could feel the weight of the bags under his eyes.

“Levi? Are you okay?” Eren chirped as he made his way from the stove to his husband.

“Yeah,” Levi huffed as he rubbed his eyes with his hands, “I’m fine.”

“Why don’t you go to bed?” he suggested as he moved back to the stove to move the scrambled eggs from the skillet to a plate, “I’ll make you something fresh once you wake up.”

“I’m fine,” the man shook his head as he walked behind Eren so that he could wrap his arms around Eren’s waist as he leaned his head into the younger’s back, “Besides, I’m too hungry to go to bed while you’re cooking.”

“If you insist,” Eren huffed. He understood why Levi was so absorbed in work and he understood he was a stubborn man, but he could at least take better care of himself.

“What’s with the tone?” Levi questioned, raising his head and creating space between their bodies.

“What tone?” Eren tried not to snap, “I just said ‘if you insist’.”

“The same tone you’re using now,” Levi groaned, taking his hands back to himself, trying his hardest not to glare at his husband. Neither had been getting much sleep, with the different schedule, Asher’s nightmares, and the simple longing for each other’s embrace.

“I’m not using a tone,” Eren frowned before huffing and explaining himself, “I just don’t understand why you’re doing this to yourself.”

“I’m doing this because I want to stop those mad men as soon as possible,” Levi barked, glaring now, “How do you not understand that Eren?”

“Working yourself to death isn’t going to stop them,” Eren shouted, “Do you have any idea how much I miss you? Do you have any idea how much _Asher_ misses you? Because I don’t think you do.”

“What do you want me to do?” Levi shouted back, “I miss you two as well but I can’t just let these monsters run rampant!”

The two adults continued to yell and fight as Asher started waking up. The boy felt incredibly disoriented by the different bed and the lack of his parents. When he heard their fighting, he tried to keep any sounds he made down. He didn’t know why but he was always afraid he would get in trouble for even hearing their angry voices.

After enough accusations were hurled between the two, Eren stomped over to his keys and shoes.

“Eren! Where the hell are you going?” Levi called after the man as he made his way to the door, “Eren!”

“Let me know when you’ve pulled your head out of your ass!” Eren shouted back, pulling the door open harshly, “Until then, I’ll be at Mikasa’s.”

When Eren slammed the front door behind himself, it only served to fuel Levi’s anger. He grumbled and cursed to himself as he yanked off his work boots, belt, and badge.

“Pѐre?” Asher called quietly as he poked his head out of the bedroom door, tears building in his eyes, “Daddy’s coming back home, right?”

As soon as his eyes landed on the boy, Levi’s heart sunk into his stomach.

“Oh Asher,” he cooed as he picked the boy up, “Of course daddy will come home. He’s just mad right now.”

“Why?” Asher asked innocently, hoping there was something he could do to help ease his anger.

“I,” Levi huffed, breathing deeply before answering the boy, “I don’t really know. Your daddy and I got in a pretty bad disagreement and I suppose we didn’t handle the situation very well. Grownups don’t always make the best decisions, you know?”

“Yes sir,” Asher hummed as he clung to Levi and laid his head onto the man’s shoulder.

“I’ll let daddy calm down and have some space,” Levi explained to the boy, “While he’s at Aunt Mikasa’s house, I’m going to get some rest. Once we’re both in the right mind set, I’ll call him and I’ll make this better. Does that sound like a good plan?”

“Yes sir,” Asher smiled up at his pѐre, knowing that everything will work out fine.

***

Asher kept his voice down while he played with his action figures, letting his pѐre get some much needed sleep, even if he was on the couch.

“Joker!” ‘Batman’ called, bouncing as he held his hand out towards the Joker’s direction, “You’re caught! Wonder Woman and I know it was you!”

“Ha ha ha!” ‘Joker’ laughed maniacally as he bounced, his arms standing straight up, “You’re wrong _Batman_! Yes, I robbed the bank but it wasn’t me who replaced all the missing money with grapes!”

The Joker’s whole body gestured to the bowl of grapes that sat next to Asher’s leg.

“It was Robin!” the Joker hollered in a whisper, not wanting to wake up the officer sleeping on the couch.

“No!” Wonder Woman cried quietly, “Robin would never do something like that! You’re lying!”

“Am I? Mwah ha ha!” the Joker laughed again, “Or maybe you always assumed you could trust him when you couldn’t!”

Levi stirred quietly while Asher continued his dialogue. The man didn’t want to disturb the dramatic reveal the boy had obviously planned. He smiled to himself as Asher continued to play, Batman and the Joker duking it out while Wonder Woman flew off to find Robin and find out the truth. Asher stood up with the woman, quietly flying across the living room and behind another chair in search of the sidekick.

Levi tilted his head so that the boy was still in sight, curious whether he will stay out of Batman and Joker’s field of vision or return to the front of the couch and pretend they’re in a different location.

The boy stopped mid-word when the door knob started to jiggle while keys twisted the dead bolt. Levi sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before Eren walked through the door.

“Daddy!” Asher cheered, having already seen his pѐre awake and sitting up, “You’re home!”

“Yes, I’m sorry baby,” Eren pouted as he picked up the boy, holding him close.

“Eren,” Levi called gently as he walked over, “I’m sorry about earlier, I don’t know what came over me. I was about to call, I swear, I just woke up.”

“Hey, it’s okay, honey,” Eren smiled, walking over and pulling the man into a kiss, “I’m sorry too, I think we were both just a bit too cranky. Mikasa didn’t care to hear my ranting about our silly fight so I went over to Amin’s.”

“Did he want to hear it?” Levi chuckled, holding his family in his arms.

“No,” Eren sighed with a grimace, “He told me I was being stupid. So then I went to visit Kerin.”

“How is she?” Asher asked, worried about the woman.

“The doctors say she should make a full recovery,” Eren smiled. During the whole event they had missed that another woman had found her during the ordeal, wrapped and kept pressure on the wounds to keep her from losing too much blood and made sure medical found her. The doctors also told them that if she hadn’t been brought to the hospital for another few minutes and a donor hadn’t been immediately available, she would have lost her life.

“Can I come with you when you visit her again?” Asher asked softly.

“Of course,” Eren smiled brightly, “I bet she’ll really love that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you really think I was going to traumatize Asher by killing Kerin? Come on, even I'm not that heartless!
> 
> The dream scene: I won't be doing the whole re-incarnation thing very heavily. It'll barely even be a thing in this. I just wanted to show y'all the nightmare he was having.
> 
> Anyways, I also posted an original work on here if you want to check that out and I uploaded a one shot of Riren (rated E) if you're interested.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments are always welcomed!


	12. Chapter 12 Prompt 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's not dead (yet)! I'm terrible.
> 
> I am so sorry about the long wait, I hadn't expected classes to drain me of all want to write. I haven't started the next chapter yet and I do plan on focusing more on my Skyrim fanfic so the wait isn't over yet, my apologies.
> 
> Thank you for not giving up on me! Comments are always warmly welcomed!

Number 55: Dancing Lessons

“Okay you two,” Hange sighed, “Focus! You’re never going to get better if you don’t try!”

“Why the hell did I agree to this?” Levi grumbled while he pulled his arms away from Eren.

“Language,” Eren lightly grumbled back, nodding his head over to Asher who sat at a bar stool, close enough to hear and watch but far enough that the two men and their ‘instructor’ wouldn’t run into him.

“Because _you_ told me, grumpy cat,” Hange smiled wickedly, “You wanted to rekindle some fire! So, that’s what we’re doing!”

“This is _not_ what I said,” Levi blushed, shaking his head and avoiding eye contact.

“Okay! Okay,” Hange sighed, waving their hands to brush the truth out of the air, “Let’s keep going. You can do this!”

“Yeah!” Asher cheered, raising his little fist in the air, “You can do it pѐre!”

“So join hands again,” Hange smiled brightly, guiding their hands together before guiding their arms to the correct locations. Once the men were situated, Hange stepped over to stand beside Levi, mimicking how he should stand and move.

“Left foot,” Levi sighed, watching his feet more than anything, “Step. Step. Side. Close.”

“There you go!” Hange cheered.

***

“Okay so why did you choose ballroom dancing?” Eren asked his husband while they were on a water break, “I can’t imagine we’re going to any fancy parties anytime soon.”

“It looked easier,” Levi shrugged with a blush.

“Mmhm,” Eren smirked before leaning into the man, “You want to tell me the truth?”

“Well I just,” Levi’s blush only grew as he avoided eye contact, “I didn’t want you to laugh at me when I don’t get the hip swinging correct.”

“You thought I would laugh at you?” Eren questioned, feeling just a bit hurt, “Well I probably would have, but only because I wouldn’t do any better. Neither of us are dancers. That’s the best part, we’re learning together.”

When Levi looked up, he was greeted by that blinding smile of Eren’s.

“Maybe next Saturday,” Levi shrugged, trying to hide his tiny smile, “Let’s try to get through this routine first.”

***

“Hange?” Asher called while the four were sat down for supper.

“What is it pumpkin?” they smiled brightly.

“What did you mean when you said ‘rekindle some fire’?” he asked, big green eyes watching them.

“Um well,” Hange stumbled over their words, their face turning such a bright red they could feel the heat all the way down their neck, “You see, uh-”

“They meant we wanted to, spice things up,” Levi saved them, “You know? When you do the same things over and over, they get boring. You have to do something new every once in a while so that the things you normally do don’t lose their value. Does that make sense?”

“Oh I get it!” Asher smiled brightly, ignoring Hange’s embarrassment, “Like when I have Wonder Woman help Batman instead of Robin sometimes?”

“Exactly,” Levi smiled softly at the boy.

***

“Okay, now this has eight steps instead of three,” Hange explained as they moved Eren’s arms in place, “So have some patience. Other than that, I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble.”

“Just get on with it shitty glasses,” Levi grumbled, rotating his shoulders and stretching his neck to relieve the creak.

“Pѐre, that’s not nice,” Asher frowned.

“You’re right,” Levi sighed, “I apologize.”

***

While watching his parents stumble on their own feet was entertaining for a bit, it does get tiring. Asher tried to keep himself entertained by having Batman and Robin dancing like the men in front of him but it would seem Batman was even clumsier than his pѐre.

“Daddy,” Asher sighed as he walked up to his parents while they struggled to get their feet in the right place, “I’m bored. Can I please play on your phone?”

“Oh sure baby,” Eren smiled sweetly, “It’s on the table by the door.”

“Thank you!” Asher grinned, dashing off to retrieve the device. As soon as he had it unlocked, he opened up ‘Mola Mola’, still trying to get passed the aquarium level. Just as his sun fish was about to be sent on an adventure, the phone started ringing in his hand.

“Daddy!” Asher called for the man’s attention. Once the man’s eyes were focused on him, the boy showed the phone’s screen. Eren quickly made his way to the boy to cheek who it was before gasping excitedly.

“It’s the surrogacy!” he quickly explained before answering the phone, “Hello? Yes ma’am. Oh yes, he’s right here, could you give me a second to put the phone on speaker? Thank you!”

After switching the speaker on, both men stood close to the phone and gave the go ahead to speak.

“I hope the two of you are having a wonderful day so far,” the woman on the other end said cheerily, “We believe we’ve found a match for the two of you. Her name is Audrey and she’s just about the perfect match as far as physical attributes go for what you wanted. Though, she is an engineer instead of an artist.”

“An engineer?” Eren gasped, “That’s awesome! When can we meet her?”

“We have an open slot for Saturday at…10 am,” she answered, “Does that work for you?”

The men gave each other a quiet nod before affirming with the woman.

“Thank you, we’ll see you then,” she cheered, “Have a lovely rest of your day.”

After ending the call, Eren hooped and hollered, wrapping his arms around Levi’s shoulder. The two shared a firm kiss as Eren jumped in his husband’s arms, his long legs wrapping around the man’s waist.

“Hmph!” Levi huffed into the kiss as he stumbled backwards for a second, catching the younger man by his thighs.

“We’re going to have another baby!” Eren cheered while Asher chuckled, covering his eyes from the scene.

“This is so exciting!” Hange applauded, jumping in place.

***

“Are the two of you ready?” their case worker asked kindly, beckoning them to follow her into the office. They only had a minute to have small talk before a shorter woman with jet black hair walked in.

“Bonjour,” she smiled with a heavy French accent, “I’m Audrey. You are Levi and Eren?”

“Oui m’dame,” Levi nodded, “Vous êtes bilingue?”

“Oui monsieur,” she smiled brightly, “I moved from France when I was a young woman. Did you grow up in France? Your accent sounds originaire de.”

“Yes, I moved between France and America as a boy,” Levi nodded, already liking this woman.

***

“Alright!” a large man cheered into a microphone, “Now I want everybody to grab their partner and show us what you got!”

Eren stood up quickly, dragging Levi behind him as they made it to the dance floor in the bar. They had been practicing at Hange’s for about two months now and next week, Audrey will be ready to start the medication in preparation for the pregnancy.

The two danced for hours, swinging their hips and shyly caressing one another.

“Can you believe it?” Eren chuckled through happy tears, “I’m just so excited!”

Once the men were leaving the bar, Levi’s phone began to ring, the caller ID showing Oluo.

“What is it?” Levi asked gruffly once he answered the call, after a reply from the man, Levi’s eyes went wide as he grabbed Eren’s hand, tugging him to the car faster, “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“What’s wrong?” Eren asked worriedly as his husband put his phone back into his pocket.

“Petra’s going into labor,” he smiled.

***

When they arrived at the hospital, Eld was waiting for the two of them by the entrance. He explained that there was no rush since the doctors and nurses believe it’ll be another hour or so before the baby actually arrives.

Even though Oluo had been informed of the exact same thing, he paced the room Petra laid in, sweating bullets and biting his nails. Meanwhile, Petra sat calmly, rubbing soothing circles on her baby bump, groaning or grimacing every so often.

“How are you feeling?” Levi asked her as he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

“I’ve been better captain,” she chuckled softly, “But I am excited to finally hold my baby girl. I just don’t know how much longer I can put up with _his_ nervousness.”

“I can’t help it if I’m worried!” Oluo stopped in his tracks, turning accusingly to his wife, receiving giggles from the woman in return.

It wasn’t until around 3 in the morning that the family welcomed Bella into the world.

Once Levi and Eren rejoined the new parents in their hospital room, they saw Oluo sobbing over his daughter while Petra shook her head slowly.

“He’s a bit over dramatic,” she sighed, “isn’t he, captain?”

“She’s just so beautiful,” Oluo practically wailed in the corner.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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